Tag Archives: teen fiction

Jan 7 2016
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Book Review: How to Ditch Your Fairy by Justine Larbalestier

Title: How to Ditch Your Fairy

Author: Justine Larbalestier

Series: N/A

Genre: Teen Fiction

Rating: 3/5 stars

The Overview: Welcome to New Avalon, where everyone has a personal fairy. Though invisible to the naked eye, a personal fairy — like a specialized good luck charm — is vital to a person’s success. It might determine whether you make a sports team, pass a class, or find that perfect outfit. But for fourteen-year-old Charlie, having a parking fairy is worse than having nothing at all — especially when the school bully carts her around like his private parking pass.

Enter: The Plan. At first, teaming up with her archenemy Fiorenze (who has an all-the-boys-like-you fairy), seems like a great idea. But when Charlie unexpectedly gets her heart’s desire, it isn’t at all how she thought it would be, and she’ll have resort to extraordinary measures to set things right.

The Review:

I admit I probably wouldn’t have picked up this book of my own accord, but my best friend (who has impeccable taste in books) claimed it early on as one of her favorites, talking about it for years. When it got chosen for our book club, I finally had the excuse I needed to drop everything else and pick it up. And you know what? I liked it.

I will also admit that I was a bit wary at first – I haven’t had the best patience with books geared towards younger audiences lately, so I was worried it would be too immature for my tastes. While it definitely had a younger feel (largely because of the subject-matter) the author wrote it in a way I found accessible (and entertaining) as an adult. It made me nostalgic of all of the books I read when I was a tween, and that aspect was easily my favorite component of the book.

I also loved the concept – come on! A fictitious world in which people towed around invisible fairies who offered them various forms of luck? Not to mention the rules surrounding this phenomenon were as complex as they were weird. It was a recipe for fun, and led to a couple of laugh out loud moments for me as the main character fought to get rid of a fairy she most desperately despised. This concept made for both entertaining reading and some excellent discussion at our book club meeting – we all tried to figure out what type of fairy each of us had and, even more fun, speculate on the types of fairies we’d like to have (for example, it was unanimously determined that I am in the possession of an “organization” fairy, as I always manage to make things fit (gorgeously) into a given space… with a possible “color-coding” fairy as my secondary. If I could, I’d opt for a “sleep” fairy that would allow me to wake up refreshed no matter how little I slept – just think of all the books I could read with all that extra time!).

Anyway, back to the actual book, aside from some weird made up words that led to some confusion (which could’ve been avoided had I realize there was a glossary at the back… why don’t they ever indicate that within the text?), How to Ditch Your Fairy was a thoroughly enjoyable read. I recommend it for younger teen girls or adults in the mood for something 100% lighthearted and fun.

Other books you might like:

by Niki Hawkes

Jul 8 2015
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Coming Soon: All In by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

all inTitle: All In

Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Series: The Naturals #3

Genre: Teen Fiction

Release Date: November 3, 2015

The Overview: Three casinos. Three bodies. Three days…. After a string of brutal murders in Las Vegas, Cassie Hobbes and the Naturals are called in to investigate. But even with the team’s unique profiling talents, these murders seem baffling: unlike many serial killers, this one uses different methods every time. All of the victims were killed in public, yet the killer does not show up on any tape. And each victim has a string of numbers tattooed on their wrist. Hidden in the numbers is a code—and the closer the Naturals come to unraveling the mystery, the more perilous the case becomes. Meanwhile, Cassie is dealing with an equally dangerous and much more painful mystery. For the first time in years, there’s been a break in her mother’s case. As personal issues and tensions between the team mount, Cassie and the Naturals will be faced with impossible odds—and impossible choices.

Waiting on Wednesday
Hosted by Breaking the Spine

 The Naturals landed itself in the #1 spot as my favorite book of 2013. Killer Instinct was just as good, and I am simply beside myself with excitement for All In. I love the premise, I love the characters, I love the mystery, and I love the psychology behind everything. I’ve always been fascinated with shows like Criminal Minds and CSI but have always been too squeamish to actually watch them. The Naturals series satisfies all of my morbid fascinations, but does so with a charming YA flair! I strongly recommend the series – read it… READ IT NOW!

What book are you waiting on?

by Niki Hawkes

Jul 28 2014
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Escape Reality Book Club – August 2014 Nominations!

Escape reality book club

Hosted by The Obsessive Bookseller

The Escape Reality Book Club is monthly feature where members take turns nominating the Young Adult titles they most want to read. We started it because we love geeking out about books, and knew a lot of other people who liked to too. This is a very low-pressure book club where anybody is invited to join. All you have to do is click here to be directed to our official Facebook page and asked to join the group. We host meetings here in Southern Utah, but all of you out-of-towners are invited to participate in a facebook book club meeting (which I will host if anyone shows interest).

August’s Nominations (via Charlotte):

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Unwind

Connor, Risa, and Lev are running for their lives. The Second Civil War was fought over reproductive rights. The chilling resolution: Life is inviolable from the moment of conception until age thirteen. Between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, however, parents can have their child “unwound,” whereby all of the child’s organs are transplanted into different donors, so life doesn’t technically end. Connor is too difficult for his parents to control. Risa, a ward of the state is not enough to be kept alive. And Lev is a tithe, a child conceived and raised to be unwound. Together, they may have a chance to escape and to survive.

I'd tell you I love you 2

I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have To Kill You

Cammie Morgan is a student at the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, a fairly typical all-girls school-that is, if every school taught advanced martial arts in PE and the latest in chemical warfare in science, and students received extra credit for breaking CIA codes in computer class. The Gallagher Academy might claim to be a school for geniuses but it’s really a school for spies. Even though Cammie is fluent in fourteen languages and capable of killing a man in seven different ways, she has no idea what to do when she meets an ordinary boy who thinks she’s an ordinary girl. Sure, she can tap his phone, hack into his computer, or track him through town with the skill of a real “pavement artist”-but can she maneuver a relationship with someone who can never know the truth about her? Cammie Morgan may be an elite spy-in-training, but in her sophomore year, she’s on her most dangerous mission-falling in love.

how to ditch your fairy 2

How to Ditch Your Fairy

Welcome to New Avalon, where everyone has a personal fairy. Though invisible to the naked eye, a personal fairy, like a specialized good luck charm, is vital to success. And in the case of the students at New Avalon Sports High, it might just determine whether you make the team, pass a class, or find that perfect outfit.

For 14-year-old Charlie, having a Parking Fairy is worse than having nothing at all—especially when the school bully carts her around like his own personal parking pass. Enter: The Plan. At first, teaming up with arch-enemy Fiorenza (who has an All-The-Boys-Like-You Fairy) seems like a great idea. But when Charlie unexpectedly gets her heart’s desire, it isn’t at all what she thought it would be like, and she’ll have resort to extraordinary measures to ditch her fairy. The question is: will Charlie herself survive the fairy ditching experiment? From the author of the acclaimed Magic or Madness trilogy, this is a delightful story of fairies, friendships, and figuring out how to make your own magic.

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Slammed

Following the unexpected death of her father, 18-year-old Layken is forced to be the rock for both her mother and younger brother. Outwardly, she appears resilient and tenacious, but inwardly, she’s losing hope. Enter Will Cooper: The attractive, 21-year-old new neighbor with an intriguing passion for slam poetry and a unique sense of humor. Within days of their introduction, Will and Layken form an intense emotional connection, leaving Layken with a renewed sense of hope.

Not long after an intense, heart-stopping first date, they are slammed to the core when a shocking revelation forces their new relationship to a sudden halt. Daily interactions become impossibly painful as they struggle to find a balance between the feelings that pull them together, and the secret that keeps them apart.

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Night of the Howling Dogs

DYLAN’S SCOUT TROOP goes camping in Halape, a remote spot below the volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii. The only thing wrong with the weekend on a beautiful, peaceful beach is Louie, a tough older boy. Louie and Dylan just can’t get along. That night an earthquake rocks the camp, and then a wave rushes in, sweeping everyone and everything before it. Dylan and Louie must team up on a dangerous rescue mission. The next hours are an amazing story of survival and the true meaning of leadership.

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Bloodlines

Sydney is an alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of human and vampires. They protect vampire secrets – and human lives. When Sydney is torn from her bed in the middle of the night, at first she thinks she’s still being punished for her complicated alliance with dhampir Rose Hathaway. But what unfolds is far worse. Jill Dragomir – the sister of Moroi Queen Lissa Dragomir – is in mortal danger, and the Moroi must send her into hiding. To avoid a civil war, Sydney is called upon to act as Jill’s guardian and protector, posing as her roommate in the last place anyone would think to look for vampire royalty – a human boarding school in Palm Springs, California. But instead of finding safety at Amberwood Prep, Sydney discovers the drama is only just beginning…

Which book would you like to read?

 Voting has closed. Check back next month for more fun! :)

Jun 19 2014
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Book Reviews: Scarlet and The Lady Thief by A.C. Gaughen

sc:ltTitles: Scarlet and The Lady Thief

Author: A.C. Gaughen

Series: Scarlet #1 & #2

Genre: Teen Fiction

Rating: 3/5 stars

The Overviews: Scarlet: Posing as one of Robin Hood’s thieves to avoid the wrath of the evil Thief Taker Lord Gisbourne, Scarlet has kept her identity secret from all of Nottinghamshire. Only the Hood and his band know the truth: the agile thief posing as a whip of a boy is actually a fearless young woman with a secret past. Helping the people of Nottingham outwit the corrupt Sheriff of Nottingham could cost Scarlet her life as Gisbourne closes in. It’s only her fierce loyalty to Robin—whose quick smiles and sharp temper have the rare power to unsettle her—that keeps Scarlet going and makes this fight worth dying for.

Lady Thief: Scarlet’s true identity has been revealed, but her future is uncertain. Her forced marriage to Lord Gisbourne threatens Robin and Scarlet’s love, and as the royal court descends upon Nottingham for the appointment of a new Sheriff, the people of Nottingham hope that Prince John will appoint their beloved Robin Hood. But Prince John has different plans for Nottingham that revolve around a fateful secret from Scarlet’s past even she isn’t yet aware of. Forced to participate at court alongside her ruthless husband, Scarlet must bide her time and act the part of a noblewoman—a worthy sacrifice if it means helping Robin’s cause and a chance at a future with the man she loves. With a fresh line of intrigue and as much passion as ever, the next chapter in Scarlet’s tale will have readers talking once again.

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The Review:

Yep – I’m doing a dual review because after two months of trying, I’ve come to the conclusion that there’s no way I’m going to get caught up with all of the books I need to review unless I take some drastic measures… and your looking at ’em. It helps matters that these two books were incredibly similar – even down to receiving the same overall rating. I also liked and disliked them for the same reasons. Behold the review:

I am not one for retellings, but this version of Robin Hood won me over. Not only was it clear the author done a fair bit of research, but the spin that she took on its was something I’ve not seen before… it was actually quite brilliant. I loved the characters – everyone from Robin Hood himself (hubba, hubba) to a one-armed sidekick named Much were vibrant and rounded.

One of the twists I actually liked the most was the addition of a love triangle between Scarlet, Robin Hood, and John (don’t cringe, it was actually one of the better ones). There was no doubt in my mind who I thought she should go with, but it was a lot of fun to see her get pulled in different directions. Did the drama between the three go on a little too long? Probably. Was some of the drama a little senseless? Definitely. But the magical thing about this book is that I didn’t care – I just had fun reading it.

Be warned when you pick up this series that there is a slightly distracting use of language throughout the entire thing. Whether it was to create and uneducated feel for her main protagonists, or just to make a statement and stand out with the language, the author went through and replaced every “was” with a “were.” She were this, she were that, the castle were big.… You get the idea. While I appreciate what she was trying to do, I don’t think it actually did more than make me work harder to understand the story. Changing a single word does not make for a successful new dialect, and I thought it would’ve been a lot stronger if she had just spent some extra time adjusting the dialogue of the main character and left the narration alone. As it was, Scarlet spoke intelligently save for that single word. In the whole scheme of things, it’s not a huge deal, and as the author gets further into the story it becomes less noticeable (probably because there’s more dialogue), but it is something to be aware of before diving in.

I love the story of the first book, and indeed thought it could’ve stood as a standalone if it wanted to, but the plot for the second one had me highly interested. I really like the promise it held and the direction it was going in. It didn’t quite explore things as thoroughly as I would’ve liked, but again that didn’t bother me too much because I was genuinely enjoying reading it.

Overall, if you like retellings, this is definitely a book I would recommend. I will be picking up the third and final book in the trilogy, but it’s not one of those I’ll have to have the day it comes out (I say that, but you watch me change my tune as soon as there’s cover reveal, lol).

Other books you might like:

by Niki Hawkes

Feb 27 2014
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Book Review: Panic by Lauren Oliver

Panic_HC_JKT_des4.inddTitle: Panic

Author: Lauren Oliver

Series: N/A

Genre: Teen Fiction

Release Date: March 4, 2014

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

The Overview: Panic began as so many things do in Carp, a dead-end town of 12,000 people in the middle of nowhere: because it was summer, and there was nothing else to do. Heather never thought she would compete in Panic, a legendary game played by graduating seniors, where the stakes are high and the payoff is even higher. She’d never thought of herself as fearless, the kind of person who would fight to stand out. But when she finds something, and someone, to fight for, she will discover that she is braver than she ever thought. Dodge has never been afraid of Panic. His secret will fuel him, and get him all the way through the game, he’s sure of it. But what he doesn’t know is that he’s not the only one with a secret. Everyone has something to play for. For Heather and Dodge, the game will bring new alliances, unexpected revelations, and the possibility of first love for each of them—and the knowledge that sometimes the very things we fear are those we need the most.

panic

The Review:

Panic was such a cool book. While outside of my normal genre (all things make-believe) it had the one element that will make me read practically anything:

Competition.

I’m serious. Someone could write a narrative about weeds encroaching on their front lawn and I probably pick it up because I want to see who wins. Luckily, the competition in Panic was a lot more interesting. Every year, high school graduates of this small town have the option to compete in a series of dangerous challenges in the hopes of earning a life-changing pot of money. For some of the graduates, the money is their ticket out of some pretty deplorable circumstances. I loved digging into the lives of a couple of the contestants to find out what motivated them to compete in this somewhat deadly game.

The competition ended up being a lot more personal to these characters than I would’ve guessed. The character development throughout the story, specifically that of Heather, one of the main POVs, was actually my favorite element of the story. The types of situation she finds herself in, and the inner strength she pulls from to get through them was inspiring. The other characters were great, too, but Heather is the one that will stick with me the longest.

This is the second book I’ve read by Lauren Oliver, and I can confidently say I’m a fan of her writing. Not only does she know how to create great atmosphere, but her writing style and voice are both lovely and evoking. I always get drawn into her books from the first page and have a difficult time finding good stopping places. In Panic, Oliver managed to portray exactly how it felt to be an angsty teen (of the non-annoying variety), reminding me of all the sweet, awkward, embarrassing, uncomfortable, and stupid things we go through at that age. It was nostalgic to say the least, and I kind of wish I’d been able to read this book when I was a teen because it offered a sort of reassurance that I wasn’t alone.

Overall, this was a fantastic novel from an author I am becoming quite fond of. I am certain I will be picking up anything she decides to write in the future (as soon as I devour all the books she’s already written). If you haven’t read her before, Panic is a great place to start.

Recommended Reading: this is going to be an easy book to recommend because it has love, adventure, drama and just a touch of mystery all wrapped into a nifty little package. I am glad to have something to recommend to readers who aren’t in the mood for fantasy or paranormal.

Other books you might like:

by Niki Hawkes

Feb 11 2014
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Coming Soon: Killer Instinct by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Killer instinctTitle: Killer Instinct

Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Series: The Naturals #2

Genre: Teen Fiction

Release Date: November 4, 2014

The Overview: Seventeen-year-old Cassie Hobbes has a gift for profiling people. Her talent has landed her a spot in an elite FBI program for teens with innate crime-solving abilities, and into some harrowing situations. After barely escaping a confrontation with an unbalanced killer obsessed with her mother’s murder, Cassie hopes she and the rest of the team can stick to solving cold cases from a distance. But when victims of a brutal new serial killer start turning up, the Naturals are pulled into an active case that strikes too close to home: the killer is a perfect copycat of Dean’s incarcerated father—a man he’d do anything to forget. Forced deeper into a murderer’s psyche than ever before, will the Naturals be able to outsmart the enigmatic killer’s brutal mind games before this copycat twists them into his web for good?

Killer instinct 2

Hosted by Breaking the Spine

The Naturals landed the number one spot in my Top YA books of 2013 and I am positively thrilled that the series will continue this November! It was such a smart read – involving teenagers naturally gifted with different skills that make them ideal candidates for solving crime. Cassie, the main character, can accurately predict things about people just by analyzing their appearance and mannerisms. It was absorbing, intense, and entirely fascinating, and I imagine the second book will be just as amazing. You’d better believe I’m dropping everything to read Killer Instinct the day it comes out!

What book are you waiting on?

by Niki Hawkes